Gayle Matthias shares collaborative craft research at MAKE Southwest

<p dir="ltr">Presented as part of the Green Maker Initiative, <a href="https://makesouthwest.org.uk/past-activity/talk-gmi-imaginary-order"><em>Imaginary Order</em></a> focused on a collaborative body of work by Gayle and Rachel, using waste materials and crafted objects to create mixed-media sculpture.</p> <p dir="ltr">Together, they discussed what society throws away, how materials come to be labelled as waste, and how making can change the way people see neglected or discarded things.</p> <p dir="ltr">Gayle is a practising artist, educator and researcher whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with work held in permanent collections including the V&amp;A. Her practice in glass and mixed media explores personal narratives, corporeal and geographical abjection, and the use of waste materials in assemblage.</p> <p dir="ltr">The talk also considered the role of collaboration in craft practice, from the way ideas develop between artists to how shared making can shift individual studio habits and lead to unexpected outcomes.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Gayle’s work moves between glass, found materials and sculpture, bringing technical knowledge together with questions of value, aesthetics and discomfort.</p> <p dir="ltr">At MAKE Southwest, those concerns were placed in direct conversation with Rachel Darbourne’s practice and with current debates around waste, material culture and contemporary craft.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Alongside her own practice, Gayle leads <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-craft-material-practices">BA (Hons) Craft &amp; Material Practices</a> at Arts University Plymouth.</p> <p dir="ltr">Students on the course work across ceramics, glass, metal, wood and digital fabrication, supported by specialist facilities including the Materials Lab and Fab Lab South West.</p> <p dir="ltr">The course includes techniques such as throwing, slip casting, hot glassmaking, kiln-formed glass, casting, welding, CNC milling, laser cutting and 3D printing.</p> <p dir="ltr">Students also work on live briefs and projects connected to organisations that have included The Box, MAKE Southwest, Eden Project and New Designers. Graduate routes include designer-maker, ceramicist, glass artist, sculptor, mixed-media artist, teacher, technician, conservator, prop designer and gallery or museum professional.</p> <p dir="ltr">Gayle’s appearance at MAKE Southwest showed how staff research and practice continue to connect Arts University Plymouth with wider conversations in contemporary craft, making and material culture.<br /></p>